I do not for one minute believe Mitt Romney's public "condolences" for the families of the victims of the Aurora theater shooting. The shooting and the resulting political and media cease-fire is the best thing that could have possibly happened for him. Anyone who thinks that the GOP isn't taking full advantage of the situation is absolutely kidding themselves. This isn't a football game, it's a war. A real war. In disaster situations like this, conservatives have again and again throughout US history pulled off their most damaging stuff while the public is in a state of shock.

I'd love to build a laptop, but if I can put together a compact enough desktop that is easy to move around, then that's not out of the question.

I need top graphics, top audio and lots of high-speed ports for connecting audio hardware (lowest possible latency is the goal here -- and most pro audio gear plays badly with hubs).

I had a mac back in the snow leopard days, but I'm now using Win7. Any system I build will probably be a dual-boot Linux/Win7 -- I just don't like where Apple is going in their attempts to dictate everything; they've sort of become what Microsoft was like before Firefox kicked their ass and Vista shamed them into humility. Once Apple gets the ass-kickin' that's definitely coming to them, I might consider OSX again.

If anyone here can point me to useful resources/advice for building my own rig, I'd be much obliged.

P.S. I know my remarks about Apple are going to incur the ire of many. Let me say in advance "point taken." I'd like help building a computer, not a "less filling/tastes great" debate thread.

Bill O'Really is either on vacation or regenerating in that energy pod over at Rush Limbaugh's house that's powered by children's tears. Either way, one of the Hooters waitresses is hosting his show today. She just did a story about Jose Vargas, an illegal immigrant who managed to become so successful that FOX is willing to interview him.

On FOX, the Myth of the Bootstraps trumps tough immigration policy.

Up next (I'm not kidding), why comparing Republicans to bullies is a bad idea.

So ends this beautiful Facebook thread in which a very dear friend of mine completely shut down an OP whining about how the Obama regime is fixing gas prices.

My pal doesn't usually end up in FB discussions like this, but sometimes the temptation to watch a few mental circuits go pop-sputter-kaploing is just too great. My friend, one "Darren Cassidy" comes in near the end...

The truly sad part is that fact-proof people like the OP are getting ready to fight.